Cannizzaro: Jets' Cotchery Is Catching On

[Sperm Edwards]

JETS' COTCHERY IS CATCHING ON

By MARK CANNIZZARO

July 31, 2006 -- Look for Jerricho Cotchery to make a pretty spirited run at a Jets starting receiver job over Justin McCareins. McCareins, of course, is fresh out of the Eric Mangini doghouse, which (reading between the lines) probably had a little more to do with some other issues than simply failing a fitness run.

And, Cotchery, in his third season, is already having a terrific camp.

Add to that his offseason performance, which drew raves from Mangini, and Cotchery is looking like a good bet to start at the moment.

"Jerricho was the most outstanding player in the offseason program and, to me, that caught my eye," Mangini said yesterday. "With that work ethic he distinguished himself. It's outstanding seeing Jerricho develop from the other side of ball now. I'm happy to be here working with him. He's got great potential."

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Now that all four quarterbacks have gotten their chance to be the lead guy in practice, Mangini was asked yesterday about rookie Kellen Clemens, and if the field has been pared down.

"The competition is wide open," he said. "Kellen will still be in the rotation. Kellen, like the group, needs to improve. Needs to focus, needs to be consistent, needs to study and he needs to realize that things have changed. It's different and it's important that everyone understands that."

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Asked what his assessment of rookie tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson and center Nick Mangold has been, Mangini said, "Like Kellen and the rest of these rookies, it's different. It's completely different. The guys are bigger, stronger and faster. The tempo is faster. We're not going to run around in shorts for four days and get warmed up, we're going.

"They need to understand that. I think that they are starting to get it. They are working on it, but you can't confuse efforts with results."

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With the heat wave expected to get even more intense in the next couple of days, Mangini insisted that practices won't necessarily get shorter, but precautions will be taken.

"The most important thing for us is player safety," he said. "We're conscious of that. We've talked extensively about the importance of hydration and we're monitoring that as we go along. We're not going to put anyone at risk."

*

Mangini called yesterday's practice "a lot better" than Saturday's single session. Yesterday's first practice emphasized third down situations on offense and defense.

"We wanted to start generating that awareness that's so important during games," Mangini said. "

mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com

[Blackout]

i hope he finally gets his chance to start alongside Coles